Seed-potato cutter



(No Modei.)

H. G. ODELL.

SEED POTATO CUTTER. No. 523,750. Patented July 31,1894.-

f 25 "In-e m I J 6 I 9 H 1 m a mineww: jrweni ar' UNITED STATES T PA NOFFI E.

HENRY O. ODELL, OF FRANKLIN, IOWA.-

SEED-POTATO CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,750, dated July 31,189 4.

' pp n fi September 1, 1893- Serial No. 484,580. (No model.)

..l'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY O. ODELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Franklin township, in the county of Cass and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seed-PotatoCutters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for cutting seedpotatoes, and it consists in the peculiar construction and combinationof the parts, that will be more fully set forth hereinafter andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a device, of simpleconstruction, by the use of which, potatoes for seed can be easily andquickly cut into pieces of suitable size for planting. I attain theseobjects by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1, is a perspective view of the device,

and Figs. 2 and 3, sideviews of the knives.

Similarletters refer tosimilarpartsthroughout the several views.

The base piece or plate A, and the upright F, secured thereto,constitutes the frame of the device. The upright F is provided with aslot b, into which extends the. ends of the bar B, and lever O.

D and E are pushers, each of which'is provided with a slot e, throughwhich extends the bar B and lever O.

The bar D is pivoted to the upright F, by the pivot d, and to thepushers by the pivots H and G are knives which cross each other, theknife H is provided with the slot 0, for the reception of the knife G,and the knife G, is provided with the slot h, for the reception of theknife H, and by means of these slots the.

knives are joined together so that their edges are flush. The base pieceA has the ends of the knives fixed therein, and it is provided with theslot at, within which is located the cutting portions of the knives.

The bar D, which is parallel with the lever O, is employed to help holdthe pushers and to keep them, when in operation, in a perpendicularposition, so that their lower ends will rest squarely'on the potato,when it is forced downward upon the knives.

The operation of my device is as follows: If it is desired to cut thepotato into four pieces, it is placed under the pusher D, and on theknives in such a position that its middle portion will rest over thepointwhere the knives intersect each other, the handle t, of the leverO, is then seized by the hand and forced downward tosuch an extent thatthe pusher D comes in contact with the knives, thereby forcing theknives through the potato and dividing it into four parts, which partswill be pushed through the slot at, by the next potato when it is out.If the potato is so small that it is only desired to divide it'into twoparts, it is placed on the knife H, under the.

pusher E, and the lever having the pusher E attached thereto is forceddownward as above explained, thereby dividing the potato into two parts.If the potato is large so that it is desirable to have it out into eightparts, it is first placed on the knife H, and halved, then each half isplaced on the knives under the pusher D, and quartered.

It is evident from the foregoing explanation, that the pusher D is usedonly in connection with the knife H,- and that the pusher D is employedin connection with both knives.

The knife H is made of such length, that a large potato can be placedthereon, under the pusher E, and out, without coming in contact with theknife G. After the potato has been cut, the spring P forces the lever,and the pushers attached thereto, upward, thereby elevating the pusherssufficiently to permit a potato to be inserted under them upon theknives.

Itis evident that the device can be operated if the spring is omitted,or if the bar is omitted, or if both the spring and bar are omitted, butthe operation thereof is greatlyimproved by the use of both the springand bar.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-- 1. The herein described seed potato cutter,consisting of the base piece A, having the slot a, the upright F, firmlysecured to the base piece, the knives G and H, fixed in the base pieceand having their cutting portions located within the slot, the operatinglever O, pivoted to the upright, the bar B, pivoted to the upright, thepushers D and E, each pivoted to the lever and bar, and the spring 1?,which bears against the under side of the lever, all combinedsubstantially as described.

2. The combination, in a seed potato cutter,

20 substantially as described, of the base piece A, having the slot a,the upright F, secured to the base piece, the knives G and H, fixed inthe base piece and having their cutting portions located within theslot, the bar B, pivoted to the upright, the lever C, pivoted to theupright, and the pushers D and E, each pivoted to the lever and bar.

3. The combination, in a seed potato cutter, of the knives, fixed in asuitable frame, the operating lever, pivoted to a suitable support, thebar pivoted to a suitable support, and the pusher D, located over theknives and pivoted to the lever and bar, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HENRY C. ODELL.

Witnesses: I

J. F. CONWAY, CHARLES L. RAYMOND.

